Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-03
THE BABY.
land to Those Who are the Mothers
OF immortal Beings.
Showing OF Babies-The Dangers of
Precocity - Baby Bon Mots - Tho
Way to "StOp" Children.
Copyright, 1857. by thu Auts or.


Copyright, 1887, By the Author.
II has been already granted in the
course Of this series that each new baby
Is, and ought to be, a unique to its legal
proDrietors. Furthermore, that the
mothers giCarious vanity in It's graces
and accomplishments is natural and beau
tlful. The exhibition Of it b0reS great
many people, but then 8 passable num-
bsr make allowances for her, sWaI-
lowing their yarns and Temem-
bering classic C0rnelia's undiguised
pride in her "jewels," WHO, by the
way, dropped out Of their settings prema
tUTely through the desire, early ilStilIed,
keep themselves before the people. a
piOu5 minority, friends of humanity and
human babies, sympathize with the dot
ing parent Nobody ever died of bore
COm-near as some of US came to it-so
mammals desire to show of the incom-
parable points of her offspring really
harms 10 one but the mariOnette she
works. There is no better way known to
the race IOr converting q bright, interest
ing child into a nuisance.
To do the puppet justice he does not, at
first, take kindly to The business. Native
constantly that it has passed into nur-
sery proVerb. "Why will children not
show of when they shouId?" sigh ex-
bibitors. The answer is ready: Because
they are wiser in their generation than
their elders and wOuld-be guides. The
uGCOusciOusness of infancy is like the vel
vety, almost invisible down that makes the
touch of the ha0y's check d luxury, en-
- &
the skin. Remove it, and coarse,
rOughened Cuticle is left. Your baby's
gam DOlS and sayings are perennial spring
breezes in the house, the only fresh and
original things in life from which the
velvet is pretty effeCtually rubbed by the
frCsts and friction of forty or fifty
winters. Heaven be praised for the
infusion OF new young blood into our
shrunken veins through the instrument
tailIty OF our children aud Children's
children But home is home-a garden
inCloSed," wherein in "suCh sweet
and pleasant soil" as the old hymns tells
US bounds in Paradise, flourish the best
loves and virtues, and the finest order of
happiness sin has spared TO the world.
We desecrate the name and the reality
when We make Of it G conservatory open
to the public stare and criticism. Let
baby grow naturally. Tram him gently,
prune judiciOusIy when necessary, but
never force his budding powers. EnCOur-
age him to pratt,e in the nursery.
Do not let him declaim on the stage
We all know the method OfShO"ing off
R0bby, amusing himself il building q
bIock-casJle in his play-corner, is
snatched away from it without apology,
his face and hands are scrubbed, his hair
brushed, his protesting frame thrust into
clean irock, and before he can recall MS
''fu5hed" wits ne finds himself on eXhi-
bition III the unfamiliar paIl rs. He is
fortunate if the spectator who "COuld
not think Of going without seeing
the precious petsey-wetsey," does
not sWUOp shriekingly upon him, SUI
focate him with kisses and strangle him
with embraces. Unless phenOmenaliy
amiable or stupid, the devoted child
struggles to escape, and succeeding, runs
TO his mother, buries his face in her
gown, and repels further OVertures.
Mamma soothes, brides and sCOlds mis-
ideas into shape. ole is not shy gen
erally," apologies the Chagrined modern
Cornelia. "When he knows you better,
he will talk fast enough. No" RObby!
Tell the lady the story Of Little Red Rid
ing Hood" or "the pretty verse you
learned yesterday" or, etc, etc, etc 4,
etc.
RObby needs much persuasion-perh
yields sulkily-perhaps remains stubborn
ly proof against all seductive arts. When
primeG by vanity, e graci0usly consents
to be put through his PAGES, his memory
is hard pushed to furnish what he has
learned by rote, and his imagination
raCked to supply imprOmptu replies. He
pipes his ballad, tells his story, shrilis his
"pieCe," and is usually inebfiated by fiat
terry into buffOonery and impertinenCe.
The curtain falls upon an unCOmely tab
leau, and mamma conducts an unruly
boy back to the nursery, wonders fret
fully "why children never known when
to stop!"
"See hyar, dad! who begun dis hyar
war!n Whimpered the small darkey whose
parent objected to the bite dealt by the
teeth of the lad he was clicking" If
Robby's powers of ratiocination were
WDat his mother believes them to be, he
would take up SsmbO's line of retort.
Discretion is, or should be, the offspring
Of mature years. RObby's tale of months
warrants no expectations i'll this quarter.
Mamma should not begin the war of wits
ana tongues.
II the baby erjoys p0sturing and pratt
ing before an audience, the symptoms are
more serious than Whel the dawn of self
consciousness makes him uneasy and
"naughty." Growing by what it feeds
upon, his self conceit speedily attains alb
normal proportions. He is not happy
unless kept in the foreground and piled
necessarily with praise. If no one else will
vaunt his accomplishments and retail his
bon mots, he sounds his own trumpet.
"Mamme!" cried yeungster of this type,
pinChing her arm when the conversation
strayed from his performances. "Say!
tell the ladies some more that | said"
"My bird died last night" said little
girl to me, with mOurnful smirk, more
cOmical than l can describe 81 Just
screamed and hollered and lay down on
the floor and rolled. Mamma told Mrs.
- this morning she was really afraid
l would have commissions. She said she
never knew anybody who had so much
feeling as me-"
When the exhibited article is of the
feminine gender, coy and coquettish
tuCks give flavor to the entertainment If
there is man in the room. The sweet
est, daintiest, most bewilChing plaything
on the earth-a loving, well-mannered girl
child-is stlffened and inflated into min
iature flirt, yersrd in the fOOlerieS that
disgrace veteran coquettes-insatiate OF
admiration, rating kisses and
smiles at the highest price they
Will bring. AS she grows older,